$25,000 to Dwell in Development Hell? Yes, Please!

The New York Television Festival is a September gathering not for established artists, like the Cannes Film Festival, but for young renegades, like Sundance (another difference: it’s about TV). The festival announced today its annual search for new television writers with the Fox-sponsored contest to submit a pilot script. This contest, in its fourth year, offers its winner a $25,000 development deal from the network (entrants must not have prior commitments to any other network).

It’s a win-win for Fox, who gets to acquire young talent at a price marginal to their bottom line and massive to a young filmmaker. (Other networks, including IFC, have run such contests at the festival as well.) But the pilot-making process is arduous! Of the threepastwinners, none has produced their script for Fox (lesson to be learned, kids: TV deals, even when obtained quickly, are a waiting game). Good luck, entrants!